U.K. Activist Fund Wants Japan to Sell Tobacco Firm Stake

TOKYO—Directly appealing to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a letter, U.K. activist fund The Children's Investment Fund urged the government to sell its entire stake in Japan Tobacco Inc.

The U.K. hedge fund, which has been investing in the world's third-biggest tobacco maker since 2011, said the stake sale would allow the government to use the funds to stimulate employment and reduce corporate taxes.